Antiwar Collage NOTES

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ANTIWAR MOVEMENT
  • As more and more American soldiers went to fight to Vietnam, more Americans protested against the war. People opposed war because it was wrong and expensive; it was personal too, there was use of chemical weapons. Protesters they said it was not our war, they said it was unwinnable/pointless
  • Supporters of the war saw it as a brave U.S. effort to stop communism
  • Hippies (protested against anything, society in general) , college students, yippies (more political), SDS, SPU (Student Peace Union), VVAW
  • Some people burned themselves, burning draft cards, posters, rallies, buttons and music was used to protest
  • Not unified movement
  • Turning point in 1968

EXCERPTS FROM PROTEST SONGS

"He blesses the boys as they stand in line
The smell of gun grease and their bayonets they shine
He's there to help them all that he can
To make them feel wanted he's a good holy man
Sky pilot.....sky pilot
How high can you fly
You'll never, never, ever reach the sky"
~Sky Pilot by The Animals

"Can't stand it no more
The people dying
Crying for help for so many years
But nobody hears
Better end soon my friend
It better end soon my friend"
~It Better End Soon by Chicago

I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die Rag



Joe McDonald (1965)




Well, Come On All Of You, Big Strong Men,



Uncle Sam Needs Your Help Again.



He's Got Himself In A Terrible Jam



Way Down Yonder In Vietnam



So Put Down Your Books And Pick Up A Gun,



We're Gonna Have A Whole Lotta Fun.



It Better End Soon
Robert Lamm-Terry Kath (1969)

Can't Stand It No More
The People Dying
Crying For Help For So Many Years
But Nobody Hears
Better End Soon My Friend
It Better End Soon My Friend Can't Take It No More
The People Hating
Hurting Their Brothers
They Don't Understand
They Can't Understand
Better End Soon My Friend
It Better End Soon




What were methods used to protest?


  • A national "mobilization" in November sent 200,000 people marching down the mall in Washington to the Pentagon in protest

  • Teach-ins at universities and meetings at churches spread the message to a wider public.

  • The young men who opposed drafts, protested by burning their draft cards.

  • Many doves (people who didn't support the war) staged marches of their own.



Positive Reactions:


  • Some people thought that it was brave of the U.S.'s effort to stop communism.


  • "North Vietnam cannot defeat or humiliate the United States, only Americans can do that." ~President Kennedy

  • We are giving aid and comfort to the enemies who are killing our soldiers, if we protest

  • It is our duty to stop communism from taking over the war


Quotes:



"Anyone who protests the war is protesting against them"


Who Protested?

    • Students, writers, pacifists, clergy members, and even some disillusioned Vietnam veterans, who used demonstrations, parades, and sit-ins to force politicians to recognize that the war was unpopular.


    • Antiwar feeling grew among Americans at home. Religious leaders, civil rights leaders, teachers, students, journalists, and other protested the war for a variety of reasons.

    • Hippies, SDS, SPU, VVAW, and Yippies




Why did people protest?


  • U.S. efforts to save South Vietnam from communism, the protesters claimed, was a dubious cause and not worth the loss of so many lives.

  • The methods of fighting the war were immoral

  • Some believed that the U.S. had no business involving itself in another country's civil war

  • The costs to American society were too high

  • Not our war

  • Chemical weapons

  • AA Protest

  • Draft

  • Expensive